Search for a new berth continues - Views on Chatham and the Medway

[Markhammond]

I visited Bray and Windsor today and both the marinas are very nice. Bray won out with the brasserie which I can see as being very handy for those summer evenings and a distraction for young kids. It's still our fist choice but it is an hour and half from home.

I had discounted the Medway, but does anyone have any views on it, particularly considering I have young children. I've been to Chatham marina which is very nice, but the big questions are what is there is to do, where can you get to in an hour or two, are there any pubs on the river you can stop at, places of interest etc.

As always, any opinions would be gratefully received.

 

[lynall]

Plenty to see, not to many places to moor up for pubs etc in fact I can think of 2 rochester and chatham marina, I think queensborough is possible, theres also a mooring upriver cant think if its name but its only big enough for 1 maybe 2 boats max.
I would say if you have a dinghy/inflatable thats the way to go as loads of creeks etc, have a look on google earth.
Tides up beyond rochester can be a pita and wind always seems to blow down the river again pita!

 

[rafiki_]

Old git is the Medway guru. You might find some more info on the Thames Forum.

 

[Markhammond]

Thanks, that's what I expected.

I'm currently holed up in Brighton which offers lots of other attractions outside of sailing, but am moving to a river as my 5 year old daughter is terrified of the open water after a rather rough day out. My wife and I are hoping that some slow speeds, lots of ducks and picturesque surroundings will help her get over this.

Chatham is pretty close to home so makes it very accessible so I was hoping that if you went down river there would be some places to stop off, as I think heading back up to the mouth and the estuary will be just as terrifying.

Plenty to see, not to many places to moor up for pubs etc in fact I can think of 2 rochester and chatham marina, I think queensborough is possible, theres also a mooring upriver cant think if its name but its only big enough for 1 maybe 2 boats max.
I would say if you have a dinghy/inflatable thats the way to go as loads of creeks etc, have a look on google earth.
Tides up beyond rochester can be a pita and wind always seems to blow down the river again pita!

 

[Markhammond]

Thanks Rafiki - I'll drop him a PM.

 

[PCUK]

I think from your needs that you should stick to the Thames as you won't find the same level of shore-side facilities anywhere on the tidal estuaries.

 

[frothblower]

Chatham is a lovely marina, great facilities, been there a few times.

Lots of bars and restaurants around the marina plus a cinema and shopping center, 10 mins down the road you have the town of Rochester and Rochester castle, 10 mins in the other direction you have Victory Moorings which is home to the Historic Dockyard which always has plenty to see so Chatham is quite a good base.

As for places to stop along the Medway, as already mentioned above you have Rochester, Medway bridge (not sure what is there these days, used to be a bar there), Gillingham marina and Queensborough or out of the mouth and across the river you have old Leigh and Southend which is tidal but you can moor on Bell Wharf at old Leigh a few hours either side of high tide or dingy onto Southend.

 

[dpb]

We spent years on the Medway before moving down to Poole.
We were berthed at the marinas near the M2 Bridge, ie Medway Bridge, Cuxton and Port Medway.
Only Cuxton did not have a bar / restaurant on site at the time, though neither had much near by.
Going seawards there is not much beyond Chatham Marina where you can berth along side to visit other than drying pontoons at Conyer Creek, off the Swale. It used to be possible to visit Rochester Cruising club near Rochester Castle. A dinghy does open various alternatives though.
Going up River you access the non tidal section at Allington where the Malta inn can be visited, access HW +/- 2hrs. Beyond that lies Maidstone with all you might expect from a town of that size. You moor on the River at the bottom end of the high street.
Beyond that the river goes as far as Tonbridge (depending on size). Nothing much River side but a few spots where you can moor and walk to a country pub.
One Caveat......we moved 12 years ago so I am sure some things have changed!

 

[Markhammond]

Thanks very much for the response, I need to go down to the marina and have a chat.

We spent years on the Medway before moving down to Poole.
We were berthed at the marinas near the M2 Bridge, ie Medway Bridge, Cuxton and Port Medway.
Only Cuxton did not have a bar / restaurant on site at the time, though neither had much near by.
Going seawards there is not much beyond Chatham Marina where you can berth along side to visit other than drying pontoons at Conyer Creek, off the Swale. It used to be possible to visit Rochester Cruising club near Rochester Castle. A dinghy does open various alternatives though.
Going up River you access the non tidal section at Allington where the Malta inn can be visited, access HW +/- 2hrs. Beyond that lies Maidstone with all you might expect from a town of that size. You moor on the River at the bottom end of the high street.
Beyond that the river goes as far as Tonbridge (depending on size). Nothing much River side but a few spots where you can moor and walk to a country pub.
One Caveat......we moved 12 years ago so I am sure some things have changed!

 

[KevB]

Not sure where you are travelling from but may be worth looking at chichester marina with 17 miles of the harbour to explore with some great eateries and the golden sands of east head.

We've been down there for 13 years and still not tired of just going out in the harbour, and with the solent just around the corner it's the perfect place.

 

[sailorman]

Plenty to see, not to many places to moor up for pubs etc in fact I can think of 2 rochester and chatham marina, I think queensborough is possible, theres also a mooring upriver cant think if its name but its only big enough for 1 maybe 2 boats max.
I would say if you have a dinghy/inflatable thats the way to go as loads of creeks etc, have a look on google earth.
Tides up beyond rochester can be a pita and wind always seems to blow down the river again pita!

The eateries around Chatham marina are imho poor as is the Shepherd Neame beer

 

[Chris_d]

Not wishing to trash the Medway but compared to the the attractions on the Thames it is worlds apart, having done the small kids thing I wouldn't even consider the Medway.
On the Thames you could go to a different Pub every time you go out but on the Medway you will be very restricted.

 

[dpb]

Not wishing to trash the Medway but compared to the the attractions on the Thames it is worlds apart, having done the small kids thing I wouldn't even consider the Medway.
On the Thames you could go to a different Pub every time you go out but on the Medway you will be very restricted.

But on the non tidal Thames, if you are a weekend boater, doesn't that restrict you to just the same few miles of river either way from where you are berthed?

It is a very subjective thing, though I must say that I can't imagine many people living near the non tidal Thames travelling to Kent to boat on the Medway, whilst I could imagine Kent people keeping boats on the Thames if they were prepared to travel further. We lived in Whitstable and split our boat time in Kent between the meday and Ramsgate.......because they were close by.

 

[lydiamight]

If you don't want the hassle of locking in and out of the marina at Chatham then try this http://msba.org.uk/?page_id=395 It's actually situated within the Historic Dockyard so lots to do if the weather is too miserable for boating.

Safe and secure, decent toilets on shore although no showers. Friendly bunch of people moored on the pontoon. Water and electricity available.

When I was there it was considerably cheaper then Chatham Marine.

 

[No Regrets]

I'm sure I explained where you could go within a day from Bray!

Teddington is a long days cruise downstream, but you'll pass literally dozens of decent moorings and hundreds of places to eat on the way.

Upstream, Henley is achievable, with again, hundreds of places to eat, although why not stop off and have a BBQ instead on one of the many islands or bankside moorings!?

Given a week, you'll be down to the Medway and back with a few nights in Rochester, or up in the wilds of Oxfordshire.

The Thames is simply leagues ahead of anything else in the UK in terms of attractions and features.

If you only use your boat at weekends, then join a Club and meet other for some decent activities, and consider Bank holidays and annual leave as an opportunity to head further up or downstream to pastures new.

We used to moor up near Reading, and got a bit bored just 'going up and down' but have been at Bray for 6 years now, with no signs of boredom, such is the variety and quality of moorings. You do need to meet up with others to make the most of it, and enjoy the wealth of knowledge the established members will share with you...

 

[Markhammond]

I think we're sold.

This section of the Thames offers everything we are looking for, we'll just have to make do with the commute. And I'll take your advice on chatting with those at bray on best places to go, I hope to be over there by early April on pontoon C so will have to look you up.

Thanks everyone for taking to time to respond - much appreciated.

I'm sure I explained where you could go within a day from Bray!

Teddington is a long days cruise downstream, but you'll pass literally dozens of decent moorings and hundreds of places to eat on the way.

Upstream, Henley is achievable, with again, hundreds of places to eat, although why not stop off and have a BBQ instead on one of the many islands or bankside moorings!?

Given a week, you'll be down to the Medway and back with a few nights in Rochester, or up in the wilds of Oxfordshire.

The Thames is simply leagues ahead of anything else in the UK in terms of attractions and features.

If you only use your boat at weekends, then join a Club and meet other for some decent activities, and consider Bank holidays and annual leave as an opportunity to head further up or downstream to pastures new.

We used to moor up near Reading, and got a bit bored just 'going up and down' but have been at Bray for 6 years now, with no signs of boredom, such is the variety and quality of moorings. You do need to meet up with others to make the most of it, and enjoy the wealth of knowledge the established members will share with you...

 

[oldgit]

How longs a bit of string...chalk and cheese etc

Chalk.
I absolutely adore the Thames,there is so much to do and see and all in a safe and secure enviroment and of course if you berth with MDL you get to use their other marinas elsewhere FOC.
Despite the serial moaners you do get an awful lot of river for your money. An ideal place to enjoy time with all your family especially those nervous for being afloat or the very young and no real need to worry about the weather or tides.
Just pick your day/week and go.... safe in the knowledge that nothing much is going the peturb your plans.
More pubs and restuarants than you can shake a stick at.....
A good place to build confidence in your boat handling skills (no choice in locks and when one small gap is all that left on the riverbank and its getting dark )and your crew and its difficult no matter how hard you try, not to meet new people and make new friends.Skippering a trip through central London outranks any manky Med. based trip I can think of.

Cheese.
The dear old much maligned Mudway.
A curious mix of industrial dereliction/industry and not much else would be good description.....but would I change it for a Thames Marina (ignoring the money side) .. not chance.
Nice feeling arriving in Teddington Lock , a couple of unchallenging and relaxing weeks ahead and then after little while it starts to gnaw at your throttle hand.... an urge to get to where you can decently turn round and head back down to less ordered and sanitized world where you can actually go somewhere without being restricted in your travels by a lock.
Teddington lock probably causes two reactions to many boaters,a sense of release or trepidation.
Difficult to explain the former.

The Medway estuary is good safe sheltered all year round area to boat which will give a healthy awareness of tides and winds while not exposing the unwary to undue challenge.
Lots of small muddy creeks to explore where your worst indignity will be running aground in the mud to the delight of all passing traffic.
Depending on your boat, mine is 36 ft Fly,you can travel upstream a fair way.
It does give you easy access to the Swale and perhaps further to Ramsgate and the Essex coast.

If you look on the Thames as the shallow end of a rather crowded swimming pool with your mum, reassuringly sitting just within reach,it just about encapsulates the world above the lock.
But tantalisingly in the distance is the grown up world of the deep end.

 

[Markhammond]

I love your final line - very apt.

Sadly as much as I want to be climbing up the steps of the top diving board (to continue your methaphor), the reality for now is I am back in the shallows with my armbands on. That said, at least I'm with my family, which is more than can be said for last season where they were stuck ashore while I took any guests out for some fun.

Hopefully a couple of years of safe enjoyable sailing up the Thames will rebuild my daughters confidence, as well as make it easier for my newborn son, and then I think the need for some speed will be too great!

Chalk.
I absolutely adore the Thames,there is so much to do and see and all in a safe and secure enviroment and of course if you berth with MDL you get to use their other marinas elsewhere FOC.
Despite the serial moaners you do get an awful lot of river for your money. An ideal place to enjoy time with all your family especially those nervous for being afloat or the very young and no real need to worry about the weather or tides.
Just pick your day/week and go.... safe in the knowledge that nothing much is going the peturb your plans.
More pubs and restuarants than you can shake a stick at.....
A good place to build confidence in your boat handling skills (no choice in locks and when one small gap is all that left on the riverbank and its getting dark )and your crew and its difficult no matter how hard you try, not to meet new people and make new friends.Skippering a trip through central London outranks any manky Med. based trip I can think of.

Cheese.
The dear old much maligned Mudway.
A curious mix of industrial dereliction/industry and not much else would be good description.....but would I change it for a Thames Marina (ignoring the money side) .. not chance.
Nice feeling arriving in Teddington Lock , a couple of unchallenging and relaxing weeks ahead and then after little while it starts to gnaw at your throttle hand.... an urge to get to where you can decently turn round and head back down to less ordered and sanitized world where you can actually go somewhere without being restricted in your travels by a lock.
Teddington lock probably causes two reactions to many boaters,a sense of release or trepidation.
Difficult to explain the former.

The Medway estuary is good safe sheltered all year round area to boat which will give a healthy awareness of tides and winds while not exposing the unwary to undue challenge.
Lots of small muddy creeks to explore where your worst indignity will be running aground in the mud to the delight of all passing traffic.
Depending on your boat, mine is 36 ft Fly,you can travel upstream a fair way.
It does give you easy access to the Swale and perhaps further to Ramsgate and the Essex coast.

If you look on the Thames as the shallow end of a rather crowded swimming pool with your mum, reassuringly sitting just within reach,it just about encapsulates the world above the lock.
But tantalisingly in the distance is the grown up world of the deep end.

 

[Smithy.67]

Rochester is lovely: the castle, High Street, cathedral, etc. There are also various events throughout the year: Dickensian festival, concerts at the castle, etc. Medway Bridge Marina is a little walk into town, but Rochester Cruising Club is at the top of the High Street. Worth a look before you discount Medway.

 

[Greg2]

Sounds like the right choice to keep the family onside, which is crucial if you want to continue to enjoy a shared hobby together. I know of one or two who have pushed too hard and the family have not kept up with the inevitable result that the boat eventually goes. The non-tidal Thames is everything that others have described and with the great benefit of being able to head downstream as family confidence builds.

Having said all that I am with oldgit.....we loved our cruise to the non-tidal Thames a couple of years ago (report published in this months Mortorboat Owner if you want to get a flavour) but it is too 'manicured' for us to be there permanently. All down to personal preference though and I certainly wouldn't discourage anyone from mooring there.